Magnetic field effect on the unsteady free convection flow in a square cavity filled with a porous medium with a constant heat generation

• Published in: International journal of heat and mass transfer Vol. 54; no. 9; pp. 1734 - 1742
• Main Authors: Revnic, C., Grosan, T., Pop, I., Ingham, D.B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01-04-2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Cavity; Convection and heat transfer; Exact sciences and technology; Fluid dynamics; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Laminar flows; Laminar flows in cavities; Magneto-hydrodynamics; Magnetohydrodynamics and electrohydrodynamics; Numerical results; Physics; Turbulent flows, convection, and heat transfer; Unsteady free convection; Unsteady free convection; Cavity; Numerical results; Magneto-hydrodynamics; Internal source; Temperature distribution; Streamlines; Digital simulation; Magnetic field effects; Natural convection; Unsteady flow; Cavity flow; MHD flow; Porous medium flow; Modelling; Conducting fluid; Square section; Heat transfer; Finite difference method
• ISSN: 0017-9310; 1879-2189
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2011.01.020

The effects of an inclined magnetic field and heat generation on unsteady free convection within a square cavity filled with a fluid-saturated porous medium have been investigated numerically. The top and bottom horizontal walls of the enclosure are adiabatic whereas the vertical walls are kept at constant but different temperatures. The physical problems are represented mathematically by a set of partial differential equations along with the corresponding boundary conditions. By using an implicit finite-difference scheme, namely the ADI method (Alternative Direction Implicit), the non-dimensional governing equations are numerically solved. The influential parameters are the Rayleigh number
Ra, the inclination angle
γ of the magnetic field relative to the gravity vector
g, the Hartmann number
Ha and the heat generation parameter
Q. In the present study, the obtained results are presented in terms of streamlines, isotherms and average Nusselt number along the hot wall. The result shows that with increasing
Ha, the diffusive heat transfer become prominent even though the Rayleigh number increases.